Go Here Not There

When 17th-century finance minister Nicolas Fouquet set about building his château in what’s now the Paris suburbs, he spared no expense. He hired the best architect of the day, Louis Le Vau, to build the best money could buy. Painter Charles Le Brun and landscape architect André le Nôtre were tapped as well. And then Fouquet hosted a lavish housewarming party … his mistake.